


Cover Up Love's Alibi

by robogalaxy



Series: deadlyroses 🌹 [16]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, One Shot, Phone Call, Present Tense, Romantic Banter, Secret Relationship, Texting, give them a breeeaaak, they're so tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23632894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robogalaxy/pseuds/robogalaxy
Summary: Future sponsorship dealings areexcruciatinglyexhausting.
Relationships: Olive | Oleana/Rose | Chairman Rose
Series: deadlyroses 🌹 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162211
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	Cover Up Love's Alibi

The Rotom phone is pristine, silver in its metallic case. Rose’s fingers fly across the screen as a duo of sponsorship negotiators discuss why their new up-and-coming business has a chance of signing a gym leader up for a brand deal. Rose nods when he has to and throws in a polite hum every once in a while. Feigning attention was something he had practiced for a long time, and now was not a time to let it go to waste. He keeps his phone under the table, typing while the duo gab on about how well this fun little start-up would work for even a Minor League gym!  _ If they had to start from the bottom, sir, they’d be more than happy to- _

**_This meeting is such a snore, Oleana._ **

He hits send, waiting until the small text appears under the bubble to show he was able to get the message across. Rose looks up to the projected images on screen as he slips the phone inside a pocket. He’s sure he’s not going to receive a reply anytime soon; after all, Oleana sat inside a different conference room with a different group of potential sponsors. She likes to take her time with them, ask them all the questions she can before coming to any decision. Even then, she runs them by him before she informs them of a decision. The owners of a small garden shop in Circhester wanted to have the chairman arrange a meeting with Milo for them only about a week ago, but Oleana shut them down with a simple, graceful, and almost mortifying no. Rose looks up and is about to ask a question - now this was real attention, easy to know when to switch - before he feels his phone vibrate inside his jacket. He waits until the duo turn their heads to grab what Rose only assumes is a sample of some sort; seeing them look away from him, Rose grabs his phone and reads the contact name. It surprises him that she even took time to respond from that cutthroat world of hers. 

**_Like mine is any better?_ ** __

She hits send and rolls her eyes, already exhausted. Her scarlet phone is placed next to the notepad and pen on which she is meant to be taking notes, but there is nothing of any value being thrown up in the air currently. Oleana is almost slouching as she nods with almost every word that comes out of the potential League sponsor’s mouth. Catching all of them is futile and she doesn’t care enough to try. She checks her nails - no polish chipping yet, thank goodness - while the sponsor continues a tirade of rhetorical questions towards Oleana. If mediocre attempts at charming figures of speech weren’t enough to send Oleana over the metaphorical edge, then how lucky she is that the businessman speaks in such a rattly voice, dryer than a Sandacona’s trail and aching to her ears.  _ And that’s why I think, Ms. Oleana, ma’am, that some consideration from Macros Cosmos is needed for me to be able to have Nessa sponsor these beauty products- _

**_We’ve been doing this for hours now. Ready to drop dead, to be honest._ **

Rose twirls at his loose piece of hair while he watches the duo bring out a box of some sort. They had been bragging about the benefits of the company’s line of compact tents and automatic curry racks for the past thirty minutes, and Rose assumes it is finally time for them to show it off. The men seem nice enough, but this isn’t a product worth the time for any Gym Leader to shoot commercials for- it does not even seem quality enough to have the logo printed on a uniform. Everyone Rose knows has a go-to tent for camping and usually saves room in their bags for curry ingredients. Making and storing the food themselves is part of the charm of curry in the first place, is it not? Rose ponders this - if only for a brief second. The duo’s models look to be of some impressive quality, he admits that, but he looks wary as the two businessmen start to bicker with each other over what to have Rose marvel over first.  _ I’m saying, he needs to see the tent first! There’s more than enough room in here for it.  _

_ Not in this room! We’d have to go elsewhere. The curry rack’s our best bet. Besides, the ingredients don’t need to be ruined if we’re going to be serving the CHAIRMAN the curry that comes from it! _

Rose tires of the arguing, but takes advantage of their distraction to look at the notifications on his phone. It works as excellent background noise.

**_You’re telling me. This man’s another one of the… “Nessa fans.”_ **

Oleana noticed as soon as the man walked in that he wasn’t normal - she looks at him closer, now, as he almost begs for Oleana to think of the possibilities of his products across the advertisements of Hulbury -  _ no, no, I misspoke, ma’am! _ \- Galar would be like. He glosses over any fact that he comes across as skeevy, but Oleana recognizes each and every word from his vocabulary that could be interpreted as vulgar in one way or another. Oleana tracks his eyes and where they look to at every moment she can muster the courage to. Thankfully (and yet at the same time, terrifyingly), the businessman looks only into Oleana’s eyes. His main concern is with another woman, not Oleana. Besides the point, though, she still shakes in disgust with the way he obsesses. His product and pitch both suck, anyway, so she’s going to get to tell him off. How fun for her, she thinks, it  _ is  _ one of her favorite activities.

**_You’re a brave woman for putting up with that again. It’s a shame they always come to you, love. We’ll fix that soon._ **

Oleana pauses, trying to hide a small smile from the businessman. He was currently going over his line of lotions -  _ sincerely, they are like an ocean breeze, Ms. Oleana, which is why I would love Nessa to -  _ but she ignores him in favor of reading those four letters on the screen. _ Love.  _ How sweet of Rose to send that, but also how rude. He knows how Oleana gets when she’s nicknamed in front of company, but she refuses to drop her stoicism now. Besides, her lack of expression creeps out the businessman, and Oleana finds immense joy in seeing him squirm.

**_Used to it. And you, darling? How is your duo? Fun?_ **

_ Darling. _ Oleana knows two can play at this game, and it amuses Rose. He’s still clenching his teeth as he looks at the duo in front of him, watching as he sees them panicking over their demonstration not going as planned.  _ We’re so sorry, Chairman, it was working marvelously this morning! We assure you. Technical difficulties, sir, that’s all it is.  _

**_Do you consider failure fun, Oleana? Because it’s a failure right now._ **

Rose looks down at his phone, worried for both the reputation of the duo in front of him and for the wellbeing of his secretary in another room. The tension is palpable; any of the three men in that room would be able to take a knife and slice right through it. Rose holds his breath (and glances down at his watch because he sincerely wonders how much longer a pitch for such simplistic items could take) and looks back down at his phone. His eyes meet the small dots indicating that Oleana is about to respond, but a loud pop of sorts drags his gaze to the businessmen. What was their sample product now was a mess of broken wood and food packaging all over the carpet of the conference room. Rose looks at the men with pity, and of course they have no response. They stand there in silence, looking around the room for any hint as to why this had to happen. Seeing a message on his screen, Rose looks down to see two words of text from Oleana’s number.

**_...Call me?_ **

He’s confused.

**_What?_ **

He texts back one word. Surely talking could wait? If not for just a bit longer? Rose enjoys hearing Oleana’s voice, but an obvious issue has come up. Rose thinks this over as he reads the response sent only a mere minute after his question. 

**_I said call me, I want to talk to you. Say it’s scheduling issues we have to fix up before next week. Come on, hurry it up, if I hear this guy say Nessa’s name one more time I’m calling the police on her behalf._ **

Oleana taps her foot with impatience. 

**_Alright?_ **

Rose hits send and sets the phone inside his jacket for a brief moment before he fakes his urgency. The duo are covered head to toe in salad mix and heavy cream, their eyes welling up with tears as they realize they’ve failed in front of the chairman.  Rose slips his Rotom phone out of his suit jacket, apologizing profusely.

"Don't mind me, I have to call Oleana so I can clear up some urgent scheduling issues for the week. I'll return in no time, I assure you. Take care! We all make mistakes." With this, he walks out the door and out to stand in the marble hallways. He presses on the name that sits on the top of his starred contacts, the name adorned with small heart icons. It reads “Ollie” and makes Rose’s mouth curl up into the first genuine smile he has had all day. 

Oleana holds her aching, agitated head in her hands as the man blabbers on and on about how he admires Nessa’s natural beauty, egging on Oleana to give him some sort of a chance to introduce the product to the leader herself. She’s going to have to talk to Rose further about making sure Nessa remains comfortable and safe at some point and in person - this was getting vastly out of hand. A buzzing fills the room; Oleana looks down to see Rose trying to call her. She pretends his small contact photo strikes the fearful, loyal secretary in her; she grabs the phone as quickly as possible as the man stares in confusion.  _ Who’s calling you in the middle of my pitch? _ His pitch? Oleana scoffs to herself - this is not his pitch; it is his trainwreck. 

"Excuse me," Oleana says with almost no regrets for interrupting the meeting, "I have to take this. It's the chairman. You have no idea how he gets when I do not answer immediately."

* * *

“I’ve never been more unimpressed in my life, Antony, seriously,” she complains, her heel pressed against the wall as she holds the phone up to her ear. She speaks into the receiver with exhaustion and waits to hear Rose’s response. He lets out a small hum - a sound of agreement, one in which lets Oleana know he gets where her annoyance is coming from. 

“I’m so sorry to hear, love,” he says, “I know it’s no fun for you to always have to listen to creeps talk about products you know they care nothing about. Grasping for straws to get closer to women who would never give them the time of day, huh?”

“Exactly. But your group, the failure, is that all good? And will it be, eventually?”

“It blew up in their faces, Ollie. I’m literal about that, as well,” Rose reiterates, “they’re cleaning themselves of curry mixes at the moment. I feel bad leaving them there themselves, but my presence wasn’t doing them any wonders, I’m sure.” Oleana nods and holds the phone to her ear with her shoulder - she’s catching her balance and listening intently to Rose’s words. She wouldn’t mind his presence at this moment, but for now she settles for the phone call. It’s nice to hear his voice clear through the speaker; besides, she knows that as soon as this is all over that there would be a chance to complain about their experiences in person. 

“No, I know the stress you cause to people,” Oleana laughs, “I’ve been under that pressure too many times. Right now, even - at least that’s what the beauty sponsor back down the hallway believes.”

“These are very exhausting meetings, indeed, love,” Rose nods, “and what I wouldn’t give to see you. Just to not have to look into the eyes of people who I know I terrify.”

“And I’d like to see you, Antony,” Oleana says (finally, the freedom to not have to be stiff and call him Chairman for the first time in hours comes like waves washing over her), “just for a bit. Stress relief.”

“Stress relief?” Rose repeats, smirking to himself while the blush of his face radiates heat that Oleana can probably feel through her speaker, “Does that mean what I think it does?”

“Too much to ask for right now, isn’t it,” Oleana replies with frustration tinging every word, “what with all the time in the world being wasted by Nessa fan and -”

“Curry duo, I guess,” Rose laughs, “they weren’t very good at leaving an impression on me. Can’t remember their names.”

“My current ...client, I suppose, doesn’t deserve the right to a name,” Oleana jokes, “it probably was something incredibly easy to remember, but I have no interest in recalling it.”

“I wouldn’t care much either, love,” Rose says, checking his watch and glancing up at the ceiling, “I’d honestly kick him out right now if I were you.”

“You don’t have to give me permission to boot someone out, Antony.”

“I know I don’t,” he says, “but saying it gives me a reason to continue talking to you.”

“You are my boss,” Oleana admits, “I’m not denying that. Now, sir… are you going to tell me to do anything else?” She smirks with this last sentence, feeling the professional conversation slip away as an unprofessional one takes its place. 

“I’d love to tell you to come meet me somewhere so we can spend a minute not having to worry about these... _ attempts _ at sponsorships any longer.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one terribly unenthused by today’s pitches,” Oleana confesses, “I would’ve felt guilty if I were the only one.” In reality, she knows Rose is fatigued of these messes too and impatiently waits to see him again. If their lips are on each other’s, nobody has to talk about compact tents or ocean breeze face masks. 

“Trust me, love, you’re far from the only one. Now,” Rose remarks, “it’s been about five minutes. If I keep the two waiting for long, they’ll think I left to laugh at them.”

“Antony, you  _ did _ laugh at them.”

“They don’t have to know that, Ollie! And you’re not telling them that, either. I’ll probably end up seeing them again next week. I pity them.”

“I won’t tell a soul,” Oleana smiles, “as long as you don’t tell my creep that I wouldn’t hesitate to claw his eyes out if he talks with his objectifying tone again.” 

“Promise.” 

“Amazing. Goodbye, sir?” Oleana says.

“Goodbye, Oleana.” Rose replies. He takes the phone down from his ear and hangs up. In unison (though they knew nothing of it), the leaders of Macros Cosmos walk back to their respective rooms.

* * *

_ Chairman, PLEASE forgive us for this mistake! We assure you that we can come back with a better model after we tweak a few things… _

Rose nods and agrees to see the men again in another week. He receives their signatures and thanks them for being interested in wanting to bargain a deal with one of Galar’s most talented trainers. Giving them another chance was only fair, Rose thinks, it comes from the goodness of his heart. They walk out with their heads held low, lettuce sticking to the sleeves of their button-downs. The door closes behind them; Rose sighs a sigh of a relief. He picks up his phone and types with a cadence. 

**_Oleana?_ **

_ Ms. Oleana, you will not regret hearing this out. When you and the chairman come to a decision, you know to contact me at this number… _

Oleana sits in the chair with concealed agitation. How she resists the urge to kick the man out of the room herself beats her, but his exit leaves her able to breathe normally again. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and tightens the backs of her earrings, glancing down at a notification. She picks up her phone and responds. 

**_Yes?_ **

**_My people are gone. Yours?_ **

**_Just left._ **

**_Excellent. My office? I probably can’t stand to sit in one of these rooms for another second longer, Ollie._ **

**_Sounds marvelous, love. Up in a second._ **

**_Perfect. Love you._ **

**_Save it for in person, Antony._ **

**Author's Note:**

> RIP curry duo and "Nessa Fan." needed a business like/everyday Macros Cosmos work fic for them ... bc didn't we all??
> 
> now, there's like no correlation between this and the song minus the themes of calling, relationships, and "we need to meet up so we can make out for stress relief before going back to this BS," but call me by blondie is PEAK olearose energy and i refuse to have that statement denied. title comes from its lyrics and also it's perfect. you're welcome AND thank you. :) i assure you that after these meetings they left and just sorta smooched for a bit. :)
> 
> thank you SOOOO much for reading!! feel free to leave kudos, comments, and bookmarks~ <3


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